On Wednesday, November 20 at 6:00pm, the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) will hold an in-person public hearing on the proposed Groundwater Discharge Permit for the Fremont Digester, at the request of FLOW and the coalition of residents and organizations working to strengthen environmental protections.
What is the Fremont Digester?
The Fremont anaerobic digester is a huge facility that uses bacteria to decompose organic waste (such as commercial food waste and factory farm sewage) and generate biogas. The byproduct of this process is a concentrated sludge called “digestate.” The digestate – often full of heavy metals and biological hazards – is held in massive cesspits, then sprayed on fields as “fertilizer.” Neighbors are assaulted by noxious, intolerable odors, and the digestate runs off of overloaded fields and into lakes, streams, groundwater – and residential wells.
What is a groundwater discharge permit?
A permit would give the operator (Generate Upcycle) legal authorization to dispose of its wastewater to the ground or groundwater. The permit governs the manner in which wastewater is pre-treated and released into our environment.
In order to continue operating, Generate Upcycle must secure a groundwater discharge permit from EGLE – a necessity that the company has been evading and delaying for years. Unfortunately, EGLE has now proposed a permit that does not go far enough to protect the surrounding watershed, farmland, and community.
That’s why earlier this year, the FLOW Coalition submitted public comments to EGLE, detailing our concerns. We made specific recommendations to the agency regarding field application of digestate, response to citizen odor complaints, and pre-treatment of digestate to remove chemicals.
How can I attend the meeting?
It’s important to make your voice heard in defense of our natural resources and drinking water. The meeting is open to the public, and will be held at the Fremont Area District Library. If you’d like to submit a comment, you can do so here: https://mienviro.michigan.gov/ncore/external/publicnotice/info/1908290194134435184/comments
We must continue to have high bars for environmental analysis and protections to keep our lands free from toxic pollutants that poison the earth and water, above and below the ground. As our knowledge expands about the different pollutants and effects they have on land, people and wildlife the more we need to put controls on discharges from all sources. We must be vigilant in this and not allow money to rule and sway our resolve to protect and save clean air, water and earth for generations to come.